It’s true the punk fashion itself was iconographic: rips and dirt, safety pins, zips, slogans, and hairstyles. These motifs were so iconic in themselves – motifs of rebellion. – Vivienne Westwood
What I’m always trying to say to the consumer is: buy less, choose well, make it last. – Vivienne Westwood
My biggest criticism is how can people be so easily satisfied? Even people with talent. – Vivienne Westwood
At one time, I was very angry. I even treated fashion like a kind of crusade: you were either with us or against us, that kind of feeling. Now I know we need ideas, not kicking down a door. – Vivienne Westwood
I was still interested in the youth rebellion but never-the-less I stopped being a victim. Stopped trying to attack the establishment realizing that it takes too much of your energy. – Vivienne Westwood
Buy less. Choose well. Make it last. Quality, not quantity. Everybody’s buying far too many clothes. – Vivienne Westwood
Instead of buying six things, buy one thing that you really like. Don’t keep buying just for the sake of it. – Vivienne Westwood
If you’re too big to fit into fashion, then you just have to do your own fashion. – Vivienne Westwood
I wish you didn’t have to design so often. Try to do quality and cut down on quantity. I think fashion is very, very important. – Vivienne Westwood
I didn’t want to be a fashion designer, and for a good half of my career I didn’t like it. I always wanted to do other things. – Vivienne Westwood
I didn’t consider myself a fashion designer at all at the time of punk. I was just using fashion as a way to express my resistance and to be rebellious. I came from the country, and by the time I got to London, I considered myself to be very stupid. It was my ambition to understand the world I live in. – Vivienne Westwood
But, having a perfume and license, in general, is a financial necessity. A designer must, to reap back the money spent on prototypes and all that sort of thing. – Vivienne Westwood
I’ve always felt heroic about my life… As a child, I remember little girls in the playground moaning about how boys could do more than they could. I didn’t think that was the case at all. My parents didn’t treat me as a girl. – Vivienne Westwood
I don’t watch television and I rarely go to the cinema, but I recently watched ‘The King’s Speech’ on a flight. It was so beautiful and so simple. – Vivienne Westwood
I think feminists are unaware of the tremendous extent of the role of women in history. – Vivienne Westwood
Fashion is very important. It is life-enhancing and, like everything that gives pleasure, it is worth doing well. – Vivienne Westwood
I have certain signatures, certain cutting principles. It could be a raw-edged seam; it could be leaving the lining of sheepskin exposed so it’s not perfectly finished. I invent new ways to do it, but the end goal is always the same. – Vivienne Westwood
Our economic system, run for profit and waste and based primarily on the extractive industries, is the cause of climate change. We have wasted the earth’s treasure and we can no longer exploit it cheaply. – Vivienne Westwood
I always thought we had an environmental problem, but I hadn’t realized how urgent it was. James Lovelock writes that by the end of this century there will be one billion people left. – Vivienne Westwood